Wattpad’s at it again, revolutionizing the way we read stories! Introducing Tap by Wattpad.

Tap is a stepping away from the traditional storytelling-style format to experiment with chat story-style writing. The short tales are meant to feel as if you’re peeking in on someone else’s text messages, which seems to be the current trend in digital publishing today.

Tap is free to download on both iTunes and Google Play, but if you like what you see you’ll have to subscribe for full access to the site: $2.99/week, $7.99/month or $39.99/year. This is comparable to the prices of similar apps offering the same type of service.

When Tap first launched in February, only hand-selected authors were inviting to provide content, but the new Create feature now allows anyone to create interactive stories using a combination of text, images, and emojis.

If you’re familiar with Tap, or other apps like it, I’d love to know what you think! Will readers pay for access to this unique, new way to tell stories? And if you’re currently enjoying the app, don’t forget to leave a review!

The text message story I wrote is currently being featured. It’s a Young Adult Suspense called Bad Behavior. You can start reading it HERE.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of dark literature. Authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson and Stephen King have had a profound affect on me, and at times have kept me up late into the night. Their books will always have a place on my shelf. I don’t seek out disturbing stories to read, but those are the ones that seem to catch my attention at the book store. Call me morbid, I guess! And when I decided to attempt writing stories of my own, suspense and sinister is what I found myself typing.

So when I heard about #PitDark I was instantly intrigued. #PitDark is the first and only Twitter pitch event that is specifically designed for authors of darker literature. According to its description, #PitDark is not limited to works of horror, but the pitched stories must contain elements of darker writing.

Following in the footsteps of #PitMad, a writer can tweet a 140 character pitch for their completed, polished and unpublished manuscripts, while agents and publishers search for stories that sound appealing. Middle grade, young adult, new adult and adult age categories are all welcome. And mark your calendars because the next #PitDark happens October 20th, 2016!

The rules:

This event takes place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern. Please do not pitch before or after this twelve-hour period.

Participants get one pitch per hour, per manuscript.

This contest is for completed, unpublished manuscripts. Complete means that your manuscript is proofread, polished, and ready for submission.

Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT favorite another author’s post. Agents and publishers will will make requests for authors to contact them by marking pitches as a favorite on Twitter. If your tweet is favorited, please follow the agent or publisher’s submission guidelines. Please be sure to research any agent or publisher that likes your pitch. There is no obligation to submit your work to anyone you don’t want to.

How to pitch:

First and foremost, you must include the #PitDark hashtag to enter the contest. This is mandatory.It’s how industry professionals will find you.

An indication of the book’s age category.

An indication of the book’s genre. See below for hashtags. A genre hashtag is also mandatory.

A pitch for your book. Ideally, it should tell us the character, desire, obstacle(s), and stakes. I know, I know — you don’t have many characters left to work with. Be creative!

Hashtags for age categories:

Please use these hashtags to indicate the target age group for your book:

#MG – Middle Grade

#YA – Young adult

#NA – New adult

#A – Adult

Hashtags for genres:

Please use a hashtag to indicate the genre of your book. The following are example hashtags that may be relevant to your manuscript:

#H – horror

#PH – psychological horror

#GH – gothic horror

#CSH – cosmic horror

#BH – body horror

#CH – comedy horror

#DC – dark comedy

#DR – dark romance

#SFH – science fiction horror

#PNH – paranormal horror

#ZH – zombie horror

#MH – monster horror

#GRH – graphic horror

#MM – murder mystery

#FA – fantasy

#DF – dark fantasy

#T – thriller

#EF – epic or high fantasy

#HF – historical fantasy

#LF – literary fantasy

#AH – alternate history

#PN – paranormal

#PR – paranormal romance

#UF – urban fantasy

#MR – magical realism

#SF – science fiction

#AF – apocalypse fiction

#ML – military science fiction

#PA – post-apocalyptic SF

#CP – cyberpunk

#SFT – sci-fi thriller

#SH – superhero / superhuman

#SO – space opera

#DS – dystopian

#SP – steampunk

#TT – time travel

#WW – weird west

#SPEC – speculative fiction

#NF – non-fiction

For more details on this event and to find out which agents and publishers are planning to participate, please visit author and #PitDark host Jason Huebinger’s website to learn more!

Do you plan to pitch? Leave a comment below if you do. Best of luck and I hope to see you there!

In an effort to bring more recognition to Wattpad writers, I’d like to begin a weekly post called Wattpad Wednesday, where I’ll feature stories from deserving authors from the site.

Each post will contain a piece of quote art and blurb along with the link to the featured story. My first guinea pig…I mean, Wattpad author, I’d like to bring attention to is Brink1314, or Red Assassin as some readers call her. Her story The Huntress is currently being featured on Wattpad and has almost 5 million views! Brink’s real name is Lindsey Lippincott and she has over 30 thousand followers on the writing platform. She’s also a new member of the Wattpad Stars program! Click on Brink1314 to read her stories!

The Huntress Story Blurb:

Electra Jaeger is a dagger wielding, gun flashing huntress, hunting down the creatures of darkness. When it comes to the paranormal she’s not picky–werewolves, ghouls, vampires, witches. It’s all in a night’s work. The Jaeger children were brought into the life after their mother’s death at the hands of a werewolf, and it’s all they’ve known since. Now, Electra’s the only one who finds peace in the hunt. She hunts for her mother and herself, turning into a closed off, carefully guarded young woman. It’s the routine that works for her until one person changes it all. He’s new, he’s straight-forward, and oh so confident, and for some reason his sights are set on Electra. She never expected to fall for anyone, let alone someone who didn’t know about the paranormal world, but Jared’s closer to the subject than she thinks. Electra realizes that the world of the paranormal is more complex than she’d thought, and she’s forced to make a decision: to risk her life as well as the life of the man she loves, or to turn away and never look back. She must decide what she can live without. Who will she betray? Her family or herself? Find out in, The Huntress.

Life has been a bit crazy since my story Strawberry Wine won the grand prize, and I've been hard at work revising my debut novel. It's available now for preorder and will be in book stores everywhere January 31st, 2017. I hope you will join me for this exciting journey!